The Hawks will be spectators Monday night with several key games in the Eastern Conference playoff race on the NBA schedule. The outcome of some of those games may dictate whether the Hawks rest some players as they end the regular season with back-to-back games. The Hawks host the Hornets on Tuesday and travel to the Pacers on Wednesday.
“We’ll see how tomorrow goes and even the games tonight,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said after the team’s practice Monday. “We are constantly discussing that. We haven’t made any final decisions.”
There are still two playoff spots to be determined in the Eastern Conference and only one team, the Wizards in fourth, know their seed.
Of the nine teams in or in contention for a playoff spot and seed, the Raptors have one game left and eight have two games left. All but the Hawks play Monday and Wednesday. The Hawks are the only of those teams that ends with a back-to-back.
The Hawks are currently fifth in the conference standings. They can still finish fifth, sixth or seventh. However, one win in their remaining two games would clinch the No. 5 seed and set up a first-round playoff series against the Wizards.
On the NBA schedule Monday are:
* Pacers at 76ers, 7 p.m.
* Nets at Celtics, 7:30 p.m.
* Cavaliers at Heat, 7:30 p.m.
* Magic at Bulls, 8 p.m.
* Hornets at Bucks, 8 p.m.
* Wizards at Pistons, 8 p.m.
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